Little Legs Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy, excited and keen learners. Smiling, friendly staff meet children at the main door, where they part from their parents and carers with ease and confidence.

Staff help children to place their belongings on their dedicated pegs and escort them to their nursery room to join their friends. Children quickly settle into the nursery day and engage in fun, purposeful play. The environment and resources are presented in an interesting and inviting way, helping to capture children's imaginations.

For example, older children unearth dinosaur bones from a tray of soil and discuss which dinosaur they might belong... to. Pictures of various dinosaurs and their names are scattered on the table close by to help children to recognise and have sight of text in their play. On a very hot day, babies explore fresh fruit that has been frozen in ice.

They use potato mashers and other utensils to cut, scoop and mash the fruit as the ice begins to melt. Children behave well. Staff help them to identify how they feel by talking about feelings and emotions.

They have good opportunities to express themselves and articulate when and why they are feeling a particular way, for example when they are sad. Staff are very knowledgeable about the children and use information shared by parents well. Staff act as good role models, reminding children how to be kind and caring towards each other and helping them to develop respect for their friends and the nursery environment.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The manager, management team and staff have worked hard since the last inspection to review, evaluate and improve all aspects of this nursery. The management team are hands-on and work with, and alongside the staff, modelling expected practice and supporting staff to improve and develop. The manager is a strong leader, who has a clear vision of the high standards she expects from the staff team and is working hard to achieve that.

However, at times, staff's questioning does not provide sufficient opportunities to further challenge and extend children's learning.Since the last inspection, the management team and staff have reviewed the care of the two- to three-year-old children and separated them into younger and most-able toddlers. This has helped staff to develop better strategies for managing the emotional needs of children of this age.

It also enables staff to provide more age and ability appropriate activities to help to engage and sustain children's interests. Staff have completed training to help them to further develop their planning, which includes both focused interests for each room as well as children's individual next steps in learning. The nursery has been part of the 'Covid Recovery Programme' and worked closely with the local authority to improve outcomes for children who started their young lives during the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Parents speak very highly of the nursery, the management team and staff. They comment on how the nursery feels like an extension of their home life. They state that their children are developing and progressing well and they attribute this very much to the successful relationships their children have with their key person.

Some parents comment on the effective online system, which enables them to keep fully updated on their child's day and allows them access to view their children on the live stream system for short periods of time each day.Staff provide children with a wide and varied curriculum that helps them to make good progress in their learning. However, there is currently less emphasis placed on further extending children's knowledge, so that they gain a greater understanding of the local and wider community outside of the nursery.

Staff help children to be good communicators, including those children who speak English as an additional language. Some staff have developed their signing skills to enable them to communicate more effectively with children and also with parents who use sign language.Parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities feel well supported and talk about how the nursery manager has helped them to access relevant funding and interventions, so that their children receive the level of support they require to have a full and successful early education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The management team and staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities to safeguard and protect children. They keep their child protection knowledge updated, for example, through training and in-house quizzes, which help them to feel confident in their role.

All staff know who the designated safeguarding leads are within the nursery and know the procedures to follow should they have the need to refer any concerns to the appropriate authorities. Staff are familiar with guidance on wider safeguarding issues, such as the 'Prevent' duty and county lines.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen arrangements to enable the continued development of staff practice, so that the quality of education is delivered at a consistently high standard across the nursery nenhance children's experiences and understanding of the local and wider community.